When the Founding Fathers included the pursuit of happiness as an American right and entitlement, it is almost as if they conceded that happiness can be pursued, but it is unlikely to ever be attained. If you look around, you can’t help but notice that for many, the pursuit has grown tiring and indeed, many

While necessary, wearing a mask is miserable. It is difficult to breath comfortably with a mask on and it is even harder to deliver a speech. And yet, those aren’t the hardest parts for me. Countless times over the last few months I find myself spotting someone across the Shul or in a store, smiling

On April 11, 1944, a young Anne Frank wrote in her diary: Who has made us Jews different from all other people? Who has allowed us to suffer so terribly until now? It is God Who has made us as we are, but it will be God, too, who will raise us up again. Who

To my dear, precious, and sacred Synagogue: For the last ten weeks I have missed you so. I have longed to be together with our shared friends, united in prayer in your sanctuary, joined in learning in your Beis Medrash, celebrating beautiful simchas in your social hall. I have yearned to bring our children to

On a recent flight, I settled into my seat tired and hungry.  As one of those increasingly rare people who don’t mind airplane food, I eagerly awaited my meal.  When the flight attendant approached, I was disappointed to learn that they didn’t have my kosher meal, but I was even more disappointed by how flippant

When people in our lives are struggling or suffering, we desperately want to help but often are at a loss for what to say or what to do.  In her deeply insightful book, “Option B,” Sheryl Sandberg describes that people going through a difficult time often find that they are no longer surrounded by people,

Whether he was your server or not, at some point during your meal at Butcher Block, Mark was likely to stop by your table to say hi, share a story, or just check in to make sure you didn’t need anything. “Mark with a k” he would say the first time he introduced himself to

In January, a fire destroyed the building that housed Yossi Heiman’s Fish Market in Borough Park, Brooklyn, leaving him with no place to operate his business and no ability to draw income. Shea Langsam owns a similar store, Fish to Dish, just a few blocks away. One would have thought that as sympathetic as he

Whether You Come to Talk to God, to Your Friends or to Both, Shul is a Place For You There is an old joke about an atheist who goes to shul every Shabbos and sits next to his friend Ginsburg. One day, someone asks the atheist why he keeps coming to services if he doesn’t

Imagine not being invited for Shabbos dinner and going home from shul to eat all alone.  You eat, you read, you read some more and when you look at the clock, it’s not even 8:00 pm. For some that sounds like a dream come true, and maybe it is for one week. But what if